In the second part of the message or “secret,” our Blessed Mother declares to the three holy children to whom she appeared: “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me and she shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world” (“First and Second Part of the Secret,” The Message of Fatima, Vatican City State: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 2000, page 16). The triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the triumph of the all-pure Heart of Mary, perfectly united to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, from which alone pours out the grace of our salvation. In the Heart of Jesus alone is found peace for our hearts and for our world.
Regarding these words of the second part of the message, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has commented: “The Heart open to God, purified by contemplation of God, is stronger than guns and weapons of every kind. The fiat of Mary, the word of her heart, has changed the history of the world, because it brought the Savior into the world " because, thanks to her, yes, God could become man in our world and remains so for all time. The Evil One has power in this world, as we see and experience continually; he has power because our freedom continually lets itself be led away from God. But since God Himself took a human heart and has thus steered human freedom toward what is good, the freedom to choose evil no longer has the last word. From that time forth, the word that prevails is this: 'In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart; I have overcome the world' (John 16:33). The message of Fatima invites us to trust in this promise” (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, “Theological Commentary,” in The Message of Fatima, page 43).
The words of the Cardinal explain why devoted love of the Mother of God is inherent to Catholic faith. Mary's mediation of our salvation through “the word of her heart” at the Annunciation and at the foot of the Cross bind us to her in a relationship of the greatest spiritual affection.
On March 25, 1984, our Holy Father, in spiritual union with all the bishops throughout the world, entrusted all peoples to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He concluded the solemn act of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary with the words:
“Accept, O Mother of Christ, this cry laden with the sufferings of all individual human beings, laden with the sufferings of whole societies. Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit to conquer all sin: individual sin and the 'sin of the world,' sin in all its manifestations. Let there be revealed, once more, in the history of the world the infinite saving power of the Redemption: the power of merciful Love! May it put a stop to evil! May it transform consciences! May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of Hope!” (quoted in The Message of Fatima, page 8).
In a letter written on Nov. 8, 1989, Sister Lucia confirmed that the solemn and universal act of consecration, which our Holy Father carried out on March 25, 1984, had fulfilled what our Lady had requested, namely the consecration of the world to her Immaculate Heart: “Yes it has been done just as Our Lady asked, on 25 March 1984” (quoted in The Message of Fatima, page 8).
In confiding the third part of the message to the Holy Father, Sister Lucia indicated that she was only the messenger and that Our Lady had confided the interpretation of the text to the Church. Later Sister Lucia strongly confirmed the Church's interpretation of the three parts of the “secret” or message. For the texts of the three parts of the “secret” or message, the description of the conversation which Archbishop Bertone and Bishop de Sousa Ferreira e Silva had with Sister Lucia on April 27, 2000, the announcement regarding the third part of the “secret,” given by Cardinal Angelo Sodano on the occasion of the beatification of Blessed Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto and a theological commentary on the message of our Blessed Mother at Fatima, I refer you to a small book published by the Holy Father's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2000, titled “The Message of Fatima.” It contains a succinct and complete presentation of the great sign of God's love for us in the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima.
The third part of the message is simply a cry for penance, for the change of heart which comes with repentance for personal sin and the sin in the world. It is rich in imagery and refers very much to events which we have witnessed during the last century, especially the martyrdom of faithful Christians. It has special reference to the suffering of the Holy Fathers of the last century. It reveals for us the light which comes from God in Jesus Christ, Incarnate in the womb of the Virgin Mary, which dispels all darkness. It also confirms for us that repentance does not come except by way of the suffering of purification and of self-outpouring.
Surely, the Holy Father has interpreted his own service as successor St. Peter, in its extraordinary richness in light of the “secret” or message of Our Lady of Fatima. George Weigel, writer of the authoritative biography of Pope John Paul II, comments:
“John Paul II's personal answer to the question of how his papacy, and indeed his life, should be understood came in Portugal, at the shine of Our Lady of Fatima, on May 12 and 13, 1982. He had gone there on pilgrimage on the first anniversary of Mehmet Ali Agca's assassination attempt, to give thanks to God and to Mary for his life having been spared. Arriving in Fatima, the pope succinctly summarized his view of life, history, and his own mission in one pregnant phrase: 'In the designs of Providence there are no mere coincidences.'
“The assassination attempt itself, the fact that it took place on the date of the first Marian apparition at Fatima, the reasons it took place, his survival " none of this was an accident, just as the other incidents of his life, including his election to the papacy, had not been accidents. And this, he believed, was true of everyone. The world, including the world of politics, was caught up in the drama of God's saving purposes in history. That, to his mind, was the message the Second Vatican Council wanted to take to a modern world frightened by what seemed to be the purposelessness of life. The Church's primary task was to tell the world the story of its redemption, whose effects were working themselves out, hour by hour, in billions of lives in which there were no “mere coincidences” (George Weigel, Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1999, page 440).
Surely, the “secret” or message of Fatima is the immeasurable mercy of God always at work in the world and our call to share in that saving work. God the Son Incarnate, Son of Mary, is alive for us in the Church, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, uniting us to the Father, if only we receive Him with a contrite and generous heart, like the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Sister Maria Lucia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart is a model for living in Christ, doing God's will in all things. Her example of prayer and penance is particularly inspiring to us as we continue our Lenten observance through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Our Lenten practices are undertaken with confidence in the strength of God's grace to transform our lives and our world. It is the Mother of God, who shared in the grace of the Redemption from the moment of her conception, who draws us to her Son, that our hearts may become ever purer, ever more one with the Heart of Jesus. Yes, we live in a world which is practically atheistic, which denies the existence of God and rebels against His plan for us and our world. But the Immaculate Heart of Mary will triumph by drawing all to the Heart of her Divine Son.
